


The One With I Love You

by WardenRoot



Series: The One With I Love You [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 11:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17058650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WardenRoot/pseuds/WardenRoot
Summary: After the legends defeat Mallus Ava tries to finds the right time to tell Sara she loves her.





	The One With I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution to the DC Ladies' Secret Santa 2018  
> I wanna thank my recipient, @lion-cheshire, for the opportunity to write this, it was so much fun! I really hope you like it!  
> And shoutout to @dcladies for the work they're doing to have this secret santa!

“Tell me about your day,” Sara requests softly.

Ava can feel the breath of her words on her throat, Sara’s head lain snugly on her shoulder. The moment Ava had stepped foot on the Waverider after work she’d been ordered to take off her work clothes and cuddle with Sara in bed, the kind of demands Ava is all too happy to meet. Sara’s hand is resting on Ava’s collarbone and one of her legs is covering Ava’s. One of Ava’s arms sneaks under and around Sara, half asleep, but Ava can’t find it in herself to care, and the other is slowly running up and down Sara’s arm.

“It was good,” Ava says, stopping the motions of her fingers when they reach Sara’s hand. “We successfully dealt with a few more anachronisms, and I got some much needed paperwork done.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Sara says lovingly, turning her hand around to intertwine her fingers with Ava’s.

Ava lifts their joined hands up to her mouth and presses a soft kiss to the back of Sara’s. “Paperwork is important!” she exclaims as she lets their hands drop back down to her chest.

“Maybe,” Sara starts, in a tone that says the opposite, causing Ava to roll her eyes in exasperation. “But you enjoy it, which makes you a nerd.” Ava’s about to protest when Sara lifts herself up from Ava, only to roll properly on top of her, straddling her waist. Sara cups her face and presses a brief, soft kiss to her lips, before pulling back a couple of inches. Ava’s arms wrap properly around her, her previously asleep arm prickling as it wakes up.

“God, I love you,” Sara whispers, tracing Ava’s cheekbone with her thumb. Ava averts her gaze, opens her mouth, to say what she doesn’t know, but Sara kisses her again before she has the time to say anything at all. One of Sara’s hands moves to slide down to her chest as the other wraps around Ava’s head to tangle itself in her hair, and Ava knows that it was planned, knows that the last thing Sara wants to do is make Ava feel like she has to say it back, but Sara’s adamant about Ava knowing she’s loved, regardless of how she was created.

It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t break Ava’s heart that she can’t bring herself to say it back, despite the words always being there, at the tip of her tongue. She loves Sara, _of course_ she loves Sara, but after discovering her past she can’t help but question if the feelings she has are as made up as most of her memories. What gets her the most is that she’s never uttered the words aloud before, to anyone. She remembers doing it, of course, remembers telling her parents countless times, remembers the first time she told a girlfriend. But none of that happened, Ava has never actually told anyone she loves them, and she fears the possible invalidity the words might still carry because of it.

“Stop thinking,” Sara whispers in her ear, Sara’s hand having found its way under her shirt. Ava shivers as she slowly drags her fingers up her torso. Ava nods and pulls Sara’s head back to where she can kiss it, surrendering herself to Sara, quickly only thinking about what Sara is currently doing.

 

Time passes and Ava grows more accepting of how she came to be. She still struggles with it, still has times where she questions what right she has to any life, how real her feelings can truly be. But she exists. She’s the head of the time bureau, and she has likes and dislikes just like anyone else. And she’s in love with Sara Lance, indisputable feelings that can’t be anything but real despite never being meant to exist at all. The more she accepts it, the more adamant she becomes that she tells Sara. The perfectionist in her wants the moment to be perfect, a feat not so easily achieved when her girlfriend’s time is fully based on what kind of trouble the Legends manage to find themselves in.

When they finally find time for both of them to take a day off Ava settles on a moonlight date on the beach. They have an evening picnic while watching the waves hit the sand, or at least Ava spends a minute here and there pretending to look at them instead of Sara, finding the way Sara’s eyes shine in the moonlight much more beautiful than the sea.

When they finish the food Ava grabs Sara’s hand and pulls her with her on a walk along the beach, working up the courage to finally tell her the three words she’s been too scared to admit. They walk for a while before Ava finally thinks she’s ready. She stops and pulls on Sara’s hand, forcing Sara to turn around and look at her. Sara smiles brightly at her and Ava thinks it lights the beach up more than the moonlight ever could. She lightly pulls on Sara’s hand again, making Sara take a step towards her so there’s only the whisper of air between them. Ava feels her heart pick up speed as anxiety and excitement duel inside her. She focuses on Sara’s impossibly blue eyes as she brings a hand up to cup her jaw, and she knows she’s ready, knows the moment to be perfect. Sara’s soft eyes look at her expectantly.

“I, uh, there’s something I need to tell you,” Ava says, hoping she can hold her voice steady. Sara raises an eyebrow and waits for Ava to continue. Ava takes one final, steadying breath before she does. “Sara, I-”

“What the hell.” Sara’s eyes zero in on something behind Ava and Ava feels a rush of disappointment as she turns around to see what Sara’s spotted. Her eyes widen when she sees a creature the size of a small dog running towards them. She staggers back a couple of steps as the creature continues speeding towards them, reaching them in seconds despite its small legs. They get a better look at it as it nears, it’s hard to distinguish its color in the low light given by the moon but Ava thinks it might be gray. It has scaly skin, it walks on two legs, the arms look too short to reach much of anything, and the head looks too big for its small body. It opens its mouth and lets out what Ava thinks is supposed to be a roar, but is more of a squeak, revealing a mouth filled with sharp teeth. Ava looks in horror as it stops right in front of Sara, reaches for a gun she didn’t think to bring. To her surprise instead of trying to take a bite out of Sara’s leg, the creature, that looks suspiciously like a very small T-rex, rubs its head against Sara’s calf.

“Hey little guy,” Sara says in awe as she crouches in front of it. The T-rex jumps into her arms and snuggles against her chest. Sara coos at it as she secures it in her arms and stands up straight.

Ava sighs as she accepts defeat, of course she’d managed to pick the exact time and place of an anachronism for their date.

“I don’t suppose you brought your time courier?” It takes a moment for Ava to register the question as Sara says it in the same voice she uses to coo at the T-rex, never taking her eyes off of it.

“No,” Ava sighs. “I didn’t really think we’d need it.”

Sara nods. “Take the phone from my pocket and call Gideon?” Ava nods as she steps closer to Sara’s side, having kept her distance from the T-rex. The moment she starts closing in it snaps at her and Ava jumps back a step. “Hey, it’s okay,” Sara says soothingly. Ava’s about to respond when she realizes the words hadn’t been spoken to her. “It’s just Ava.” The T-rex lets out a happy sound at Sara’s voice. Ava uses its momentary distraction to quickly pull the phone from Sara’s pocket and take two long steps away from them.

It doesn’t take long for the Waverider to show up close to them, and after that it takes almost no time at all to find out from exactly when the small creature was displaced. To Ava, however, it feels like an eternity. She was supposed to spend the entire evening with her girlfriend, was supposed to finally tell her that she loves her, but up until the moment they leave the cretaceous period behind all of Sara’s attention is taken up by the small T-rex. Ava can’t even get close to her girlfriend as every time she tries it starts growling, or crying, or any other sound that will make Sara focus entirely on it. When they finally leave Ava thinks she can do without ever seeing another dinosaur again.

“You okay?” Sara asks her as they reenter the Waverider.

“I’m fine,” Ava says briskly.

“You sure? ‘Cause you’ve been walking two feet away from me ever since we dropped off Rexy-”

“You named it?” Ava asks in disbelief. She doesn’t know why the fact that Sara gave it a name has an effect on her.

“Yeah,” Sara shrugs defensively, before it’s replaced by a much too satisfied smirk. “Wait, are you jealous?”

“No!” Ava says too quickly, making a face.

“You are!” Sara says, reaching for Ava’s hand and pulling them to a stop in the hallway. Ava turns around to face her but refuses to look directly at Sara or step closer to her, the hand not in Sara’s forming into a fist. “That’s cute.” Ava rolls her eyes. When Sara takes a step forward to close the distance between them, however, Ava finds herself melting into Sara as she gets closer, her fist unclenching and her eyes searching Sara’s face.

“I’m sorry our date got interrupted,” Sara says softly right before placing a kiss on Ava’s cheek.

“Me too,” Ava sighs. She quickly pecks Sara on the lips before Sara takes a step back, pulling on Ava’s hand.

“Night’s not over yet.” Sara bites her lip as she lets her eyes travel the length of Ava’s body.

“What do you propose we do with the rest of it?” Ava asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh I’ve got some ideas…”

 

The second time Ava tries to tell Sara she loves her she decides on a date in her apartment, thinking the chances of an anachronism suddenly showing up in her apartment to be minimal. The hour before Sara arrives Ava spends running around the apartment making sure that everything looks good. Right before Sara is meant to arrive she makes the last preparations for the food and opens her best bottle of wine. The buzzer rings right before Ava can doubt her outfit for the nth time. She opens the door with a smile and feels her heart skip a beat when her eyes land on Sara.

“Hey,” Sara says, smiling. She takes a step forward, effectively putting her in Ava’s space.

“Hey,” Ava says, smile growing. She leans down to press a quick kiss to the corner of Sara’s mouth before stepping back, letting Sara into the apartment. “You look tired,” Ava notes, before feeling a hint of panic rise up inside her. “Not that you don’t like good! You look amazing, like you always do.” Sara, now properly inside the apartment, turns to Ava with an amused smile. Ava carefully closes the door as Sara takes a step closer.

“I’m fine. Just a long day is all.”

Ava makes a noise she hopes sounds sympathetic and takes a step towards her. “We could reschedule, if you’re too tired.” She lifts a hand up to Sara’s face, tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear before resting the hand on her jaw.

“No, this, you, it’s exactly what I need.” Sara brings a hand up to cover Ava’s and brings her other up to Ava’s neck, looking softly into Ava’s eyes. The action combined with Sara’s words make Ava melt, and she finds herself leaning down to kiss Sara, lingering for a few seconds before pulling back.

“How about we eat dinner in front of the TV?”

“That sounds great, as long as you’re sure you’ll survive.” Sara offers her a teasing smile.

“I’m sure I’ll manage, just this once. Why don’t you find something for us to watch and I’ll go get the food.” Sara nods, slightly turns her head to place a kiss on the palm of Ava’s hand. She takes slow steps backwards, away from Ava, not letting go of Ava’s hand until absolutely necessary. Ava’s powerless to do anything but watch until she finally turns around, having found the couch. Ava sighs and quickly brings the wine and food with her back to Sara.

The moment she sits down Sara moves closer so she’s leaning into Ava’s side. Ava’s first instinct is to wrap an arm around her but she reluctantly keeps both in front of her, one holding her plate and the other her fork. Never before has food seemed quite so inconvenient.

“What are we watching?”

“No clue, I just picked the first thing netflix showed me.” Sara shrugs before resting her head on Ava’s shoulder.

They eat in companionable silence, both simply enjoying the other in the calm of the evening. The movie Sara picked plays in the background but Ava can’t quite find it in herself to pay attention, too wrapped up in the woman beside her and too excited and nervous about what she wants to tell her. When both their plates are empty Sara quickly moves them to the table before moving herself on top of Ava’s lap. Ava wastes no time wrapping her arms around her, relishing in the fact she can finally touch her. Sara wraps one arm around her shoulders and rests her head between Ava’s shoulder and neck. Ava runs one hand up and down the outside of Sara’s thigh and feels Sara’s breath on her neck as Sara sighs in content.

Sara’s head doesn’t stay in the position for long. Soft lips tickle at Ava’s neck before lazily making their way up to her mouth. Sara places two fingers on the side of her chin and lightly pushes to make Ava turn her head to face her. The two fingers turn into Sara’s entire hand as she uses it to cup Ava’s face so she can pull it closer. Ava happily obliges, presses her lips against Sara’s and brings her hand up to the back of Sara’s neck to keep her close. Sara sighs and slowly moves her lips against Ava’s. Ava follows suit, letting Sara set the pace.

They stay like that for a while, kissing lazily, before Sara pulls back, trying and failing to conceal a yawn. She rests her head back on Ava’s shoulder and starts lazily picking at the hem of Ava’s top. Ava makes half an attempt at catching the rest of the movie, the hand at Sara’s neck moving to slowly run through her hair. For a while the only sounds in the apartment are the sounds of them breathing and whatever sounds the movie makes before Ava decides to speak.

“So,” she starts, drawing out the vowel. “There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, like a really long time, but for the longest time I was terrified and now that I’m not as terrified it’s just never been the right time. I planned to tell you at the beach but then the anachronism happened and I never got around to it, and it’s just never been the right time and place. But, I think this might be as perfect as it’s going to get. So, here goes nothing, I guess. Sara, I lo-” Ava’s heart drops in her chest as she’s interrupted by soft snoring right next to her ear.

She sighs as she stops her hand’s movement in Sara’s hair and instead uses it to slightly pull Sara’s head back so she can properly look at her. Sara’s eyes are closed and her mouth is half open. She scrunches up her face for a second and all Ava can think is how adorable she looks and how much she loves her.

“Guess I should have seen that coming with how tired you were when you got here,” Ava mumbles out loud. She pushes some errant strands of hair that’s clinging to Sara’s face out of the way and presses a gentle kiss to her forehead. “Let’s get you to bed.” She rearranges her arms so she has a better hold on Sara’s body, one underneath her knees and one on her back. Sara’s head falls to her chest as she subconsciously snuggles closer to Ava as Ava carefully stands up with Sara in her arms. She slowly makes her way up the stairs, careful not to wake Sara on her way to the bedroom.

“One day I’m finally going to tell you how much you mean to me,” she whispers as she lays Sara down on the bed. She sits down next to her and carefully extracts her from her more restricting clothing. She places a soft kiss on Sara’s lips after removing most of her clothes. She then quickly gets herself ready for bed before lying down next to Sara. The moment Ava reaches for her she rolls over in her sleep, her body landing half on top of Ava, head buried in her shoulder. Ava can’t help a smile as she gently rearranges her so she’s lying more properly snuggled up to her side, Sara's arm around her waist and head still on her shoulder. Ava wraps her own arms securely around her.

“Good night,” she whispers, placing a kiss on top of Sara’s head before finally allowing herself to fall asleep.

 

The third time Ava is adamant will be the last. Her whole body bursts with excitement and giddiness at telling her and frustration at the times she’s been interrupted. The Waverider is sitting in a field a little outside Star City, with strict orders to stay there while Sara’s away, and Ava has taken the entire day off and told Gary that if he calls the world better have less than ten minutes until disaster. She’s decided on a restaurant, despite what had happened the first time they went to one. She shows up on the Waverider in one of her best suits, hoping it can impress Sara as much as any dress. When she arrives at the bridge Sara’s standing with her back to her. The sight of her takes Ava’s breath away. She’s wearing a white dress that’s form fitting on her torso but more loose below her waist. It only makes its way over Sara’s shoulder on one side, leaving the other, along with her arms, bare, and it’s all tied together with a black belt at Sara’s waist. Sara turns around to face her with a bright smile.

“Hey,” Sara says, making her way over to Ava.

“Hey. You look absolutely stunning.” Sara turns her head slightly at the compliment, a more bashful smile finding its way to her lips.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” Sara splays her hand on the top of Ava’s chest, right between her jacket and tie. She slides her hand to the top of Ava’s shoulder and leans up as Ava leans down to kiss her hello.

“Are you ready to leave?” Ava asks when they pull apart. Before Sara can answer an explosion sounds throughout the ship. “I don’t suppose any controlled explosions were scheduled for today?” Ava asks with a groan. Sara shakes her head apologetically.

“Gideon, what the hell was that?”

“The explosion originated in the lab, where Ms. Tomaz and Ms. Darhk are currently spending their time.”

Sara lets out a curse under her breath. “I’m just going to check that no one will blow up the ship while we’re gone. Then we’ll leave, I swear.” Sara’s eyes are apologetic while her voice sports a hint of annoyance. Ava nods and follows her all the way to the Waverider’s lab.

When they arrive everything seems mostly intact. Zari’s face is lit up with excitement whereas Nora’s face is more amused than anything. They both show a hint of panic when Sara marches into the room.

“What’s going on here?” Sara asks sternly, her arms crossed. Both women start talking at the same time until Sara gives them another look.

“Hey, Captain, you look great...” Zari tries, sighing when Sara’s face remains unamused. “We were playing a game, or I was playing and Nora was watching, and I commented on a spell and Nora said that she could do that so I asked her to show me…” she trails off at the end, looking avidly at the floor. Nora stays quiet, looking between Sara and Ava, still a hint of panic on her face.

“This ship is **not** a playground.”

“Sorry, captain,” Zari mumbles. “Can we do just one more though? Nora was just about to cast a fireball-”

“No, no more spells on this ship. Did you say a fireball? Can you do that?” Ava’s eyes widen as Sara sounds more intrigued than stern.

“Of course I can, though I wouldn’t really call it a fireball, Zari just insists on calling it that.” Nora makes a face at the name. Sara nods thoughtfully.

“You’re not seriously considering this, are you?” Ava asks incredulously.

“Of course not,” Sara says, a little offended. “Not on the ship, anyway. But if you can find somewhere away from the ship with no one or nothing to get hurt I don’t see the harm.”

Zari’s face turns excited again as she turns to Nora, already making plans for whatever magic she wants to see, ignoring the other two people still in the room.

Ava shakes her head with both fondness and exasperation, grabbing Sara’s arm and pulling her closer. She’s not quite sure what she’s about to say, imagines some form of _you’re an idiot_ , _how are you even still alive_ , or _god, you can be so reckless at times,_ is what would come out. But neither of those is what escapes her lips. A small smile adorns her lips as she looks into Sara’s carefree eyes. “I love you,” she whispers. She doesn’t quite recognize the words until they’re out and Sara gives her the biggest smile she’s ever seen, her eyes glistening. “I love you,” Ava says again as she brings a hand up to Sara’s waist and the other to the back of her neck. She’s not quite sure who kisses who, just knows that a moment later Sara’s hands are around her neck, their lips firmly pressed together. Ava forgets about where they are as she loses herself in the feel of Sara. She suddenly remembers when she hears two almost identical sounds of disgust coming from further inside the room. She pulls away from Sara with a blush, can’t manage to look either Zari or Nora in the eyes.

“Find somewhere else to showcase your magic and clean up whatever mess you made here,” Sara orders without looking at them, hand going to grasp Ava’s, already on her way out of the room. She stops them not too far away from the door.

“Say it again,” she requests almost shyly, gazing into Ava’s eyes.

“I love you,” Ava says with a smile, leaning down to kiss Sara again. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” she repeats in between kisses, feeling blissful.

Sara wraps one hand around Ava’s tie and travels the length of her arm with the other, all the way to Ava’s wrist.

“How about,” she starts, pressing the buttons on Ava’s time courier, “we skip dinner and go straight to your place?” She punctuates the question by pressing one last button, opening a portal behind her leading straight into Ava’s bedroom.

Ava nods, already pushing Sara towards it. “That sounds like a great plan.”

When they emerge on the other side Sara swiftly turns them around so Ava’s back is facing the bed. She just catches a glimpse of the portal closing before Sara pushes her down on the bed, Sara following suit. Sara’s hands quickly get to work unbuttoning Ava’s suit jacket, all the while doing her best not to break contact with Ava’s lips. Ava’s hands locate the zipper on Sara’s back, making quick work of it. She sighs as she splays her hands on Sara’s bare back in between the now open zipper.

“I love you,” Sara whispers when they part for air. “God, I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

  



End file.
